Leader: Kate Krawczyk

Day 1

It was a long drive down to the Ahuriri Conservation area but it was worth it. We had a ten-day stretch including Easter and ANZAC holidays. This meant, for those of us who work, we only had to take three days’ annual leave. It was a chance to go far, far away!

We left Nelson around 8am and didn’t arrive at Ahuriri Base Hut until about 8p – in the dark.There was only a couple from Gore in the hut and a starving little kitten who had crawled out from under the hut the day before apparently. No one knew where it had come from, but we gave it warm milk and the lovely couple took it with them when they left the next day.

Another couple arrived after us. They were from Christchurch and one of them was Honora Renwick – Brian’s sister! Small world…

Day 2

The day’s forecast was a bit of a mixed bag, but we woke up to a reasonably clear morning after a night of rain. We decided to have a go at climbing the track to the ridge over Dingle Burn to have a look. After a couple of hours we reached the top and got great views towards Mt. Heim and the hanging glaciers on its face. We had a quick lunch sheltering out of the cold wind. The wind got bitterly cold and we quickly decided to descend. On the way down it started to rain lightly so we didn’t get too wet. All the same it was nice to get back to base.

Day 3

Another rainy day – we knew that after today the forecast was great for at least four days. So we decided to go for it, starting our planned five-day loop.

We packed up, drove to the road end and set off up the valley for a few kilometres before we turned right and climbed above the gorge of Watson Creek where it meets the Ahuriri Valley. We had a quick lunch sheltering from the rain in the trees and reached our campsite at around 2pm at the bushline where Watson Creek forks.

At this point spirits were pretty low! We were cold and wet, and quickly set up our tents, changed and dove in for cover.

Before bed, which of course comes very early when tramping in April (sundown was around 6:30pm), Peter came. We discussed our options. He reckoned if it was still raining in the morningt we would have to bail as we were only heading higher into the cold and snow and, for safety’s sake, we needed to dry out.

Day 4

It stopped raining during the night but we were still wet and cold when we we woke up. After a quick breakfast discussion, we decided to push on. We’d come this far and we knew the forecast was in our favour.

We climbed up the right branch of Watson Creek all morning in the cloud. At lunch a glimpse of blue sky teased us above but for the most part we couldn’t see a thing!

We finally reached the saddle into the Temple after a grunty, long scree sidle and some plugging steps through snow. The clouds parted enough to give us a stunning view of the Southern Alps – snowy peaks as far as the eyes could see!

Just below the saddle there were some beautiful tarns. There was snow around but enough bare patches of ground to set up our tents for the night. We knew it was going to be cold, but we had a nice camp site with beautiful water. We knew the bush line was another two hours away– we wouldn’t make it there before dark.

Day 5

For the first time ever, I woke to a tent frozen around me! I was toasty warm in my down cocoon, but when I flipped my fly open a layer of frozen condensation flew off in an icy cloud. The tarns which were water the night before had a thin layer of ice on them. But what a spot to wake up! Once again – snowy peaks surrounded and the best part of all – not a cloud in the sky! The weather was promising!

We packed up and descended down the valley to the Temple Valley. It was easy going down to the bushline and then there was a bit of route finding.  A rough track existed with some flagging tape but it wasn’t easy to follow. We had to sidle high up on the true right of the valley to avoid the gorge where the stream met the main valley. We hit a road block when we came across a huge washout across the track. We looked up and down but as far as we could see the way was impassable – the track was gone and it was a sheer 2–3 metre drop into what used to be a little side creek. Peter dropped his pack and went up to see if we could get above the washout. We didn’t have to wait long and heard Peter shout out – he’d found a way. A steep 100 metres up the hill and we were able to find a way across.

We reached the Temple Valley, then turned left up the South Temple. We passed the hut and carried on for another couple of hours upstream to get a good start on the next day. The track was really hard to follow because the same storm that caused the washout we had encountered earlier, had obliterated much of the formed track that existed in the South Temple.

Just before dark, we found a lovely campsite and resigned ourselves to another night in our tents.

Day 6

The long nights were getting to me at this point. There’s only so many twelve-hour nights you can spend by yourself in a tent. And you can only sleep for so long. I was very happy to hear the morning chorus of the resident bellbirds.

We continued up the South Temple left branch on a rough track through the scrub and onto the alpine tussock. We climbed a steep and loose scree slope to finally reach the saddle under Mt.Huxley, back into the Ahuriri Valley.

Again, the views were spectacular. We descended through the soft snow into the basin below V-Notch Pass and Mt. Huxley.

We reached a spectacular campsite on big, grassy flats beside a superb little creek, with the afternoon sun still shining over the basin. It was magical! Unfortunately, Peter insisted we keep going so that we didn’t have to descend the steep and slippery snow grass slopes in the morning dew. I could totally understand his strategy, as we scrambled down steep gullies through waterfalls and bluffs to the valley floor. We found a flat campsite in the river flats and set up camp for our last night.

Day 7

After a starry night, another beautiful day saw us packing up again for the last, long valley-slog back to the vehicles. We passed Top, Hagen, and Shamrock Huts on the way. Finally, our vehicles came into view. We drove back to the Ahuriri Base Hut to find a couple of local hunters in the hut. They were friendly sorts so we settled in for our first cozy, warm hut night in six days.

Day 8

Our last day on the trip and the weather was holding – we had to make one last tramp to explore Canyon Creek. After all, we came here to tramp and who knows when we will get back here next? The temptation to start driving home to our beds and hot showers was strong, but the promise of another spectacular valley was stronger. And wow! Words can’t describe the stunning, pre-historic beauty of Canyon Creek. The track climbs up and over a little gorge and spits you out into the valley. At the head of the valley are sheer bluffs towering 200 metres with waterfalls cascading down into the valley below.

Day 9

It was a long drive home with a day spare to get sorted for going back to real life!